Asteroid passes within outer orbit of Earth

Close call from Asteroid 2012 DA14

On Friday afternoon, Earth was looking at a close call from an asteroid; but it was a time for excitement, not fear. asteroid 2012 DA14 is half the size of a football field, and it traveled very close to the Earth.

The outer orbit of Earth is filled in various Satellites and space junk.

NASA

Reactions to the asteroid's arrival vary. Thanks to Hollywood, asteroids like this DA14 can conjure up images of the move "Deep Impact." However, NASA says, don't sweat it.

Don Yeomans is the manager for NASA's Near Earth Objects Office and says that DA14's orbit "is very well known. We know exactly where it is going, and it cannot hit the Earth." So, this close call could be a valuable learning experience.

"It's going to be bright enough where we can study it in much more detail than we can normally study asteroids that are much further away," said Dr. Jeff Newman, an associate professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Pittsburgh.

Once an asteroid enters the atmosphere, it is a meteor. Whatever hits the ground is a meteorite. At the Shadyside Mining Company, they have some meteorites among their gems, dinosaur eggs and other rare finds, and they are rather small but weigh a lot. One meteorite weighs 1 pound, 11 ounces. (See video.)

"This asteroid, if it were to hit the Earth it would have as much impact as a big nuclear bomb," says Newman.

Again, it’s not going to happen this time. The Earth is hit by small rocks all the time, and something the size of this week's asteroid hits once every 100 years.

Looking that far ahead is tough because even light in space can make big changes. "Light itself can push it around and deflect it. It acts just like a rocket," says Newman.

Pittsburgh is playing a key role in protecting the planet from a "Deep Impact."

"There is a project that both Pitt and CMU are involved in. It is called the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope. It is designed to find every rock out there that can hit the earth and cause enough damage to destroy a city," says Newman.

It will be able to detect asteroids a decade before they get close to the Earth, and that could give scientists enough time to develop a plan to change the asteroid's course. The telescope is being built in Chile and should be completed by 2019.

As for seeing this asteroid, Pittsburghers are in the wrong hemisphere. In India, some will be able to see it with a pair of binoculars.

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